Hong Kong born, Korean raised producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chasu has released a double single titled “bury me instead.” Single “sweet decay” and “séance” are available for stream and purchase now.

While Chasu is most known for being the go-to producer for Indonesian rapper and recent 88rising signee Warren Hue, he has been holding on to some beautiful and melancholy solo material and this is his proper debut double single after having signed to Norwegian tastemaker 777 Music (boy pablo, FUR). Combining backgrounds in hip-hop production, jazz composition and a love of genre bending indie-pop Chasu is an artist completely unique in the Korean musical landscape and an exciting new talent with global ambitions. 

Here is Chasu on “bury me instead”: “‘sweet decay’ and ‘séance’ are some of the first songs I wrote during my transition from a producer and songwriter to a solo artist. They were born out of necessity, really: I had to vomit my anxieties somewhere, and I couldn’t get that kind of catharsis by toplining for someone else. Both songs took at most a full day to produce, write, and record, and out came two of the most honest songs I’ve written; some things I tried my hardest not to write about found themselves on the page anyway.

I originally intended for “sweet decay” to be a corny, lovesick ballad but, like much of my songwriting, it turned out much more bittersweet than I’d expected. The song is about dying next to someone you love–hence the lyric “loving you is a sweet decay”–and features electric guitar from longtime collaborator Joe Cho, a friend I met at jazz camp in my sophomore year of high school.

“séance” is an homage to the big band jazz I grew up listening to, and features the horn stabs, strings section, and upright piano I love in the music of Count Basie and Gerry Mulligan. Behind the flowery lyrics and maximalist orchestration, though, is the innocently simple story of a boy who fears loss.”

Chasu has also released a gorgeous visual accompaniment to “sweet decay.” The video was filmed in farmland outside Seoul and according to Chasu, is “based on themes of urban decay, and nature vs. culture vs. capitalism, etc.”

Photo Courtesy: Sunhee Bae